Hidden In The Shadows
by Sorahana Kumiko
Summary: Okay this is like a comedy Sailor Moon story. It's pretty hilarious and funny to read. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Hope you enjoy the story.**

**Summary: Shadows begin to mysteriously appear. The Sailor scouts are out of highschool and realize their worst nightmares have only begun. Everyone around is in danger. How can Sailor Moon save her friends if she can't save herself? UsagiXSeiya, MinakoXYaten, TaikiXAmi**

* * *

**Hidden In The Shadows**

**Chapter One:**

A new day had arrived for the beginning of Usagi's most dangerous quest, which she was soon to find out as the sun began to rise. Usagi slowly pulled her blanket off her and began to sit up. She yawned putting her hand to her mouth as she stood from her bed feeling quite anxious for some reason, but she didn't know why. She put on some clothes and fixed her hair up into what was called as Seiya phrases "Odango hair."

Usagi looks around her apartment and realizes Rei has already left. She opens the kitchen cupboard to grab some breakfast and notices a note on the fridge. Oh crap, Usagi thinks as she reads the note from her roommate: "Usagi- knowing you, I thought I'd remind you to meet us at the café around noon. See you there- don't be late. Love, Rei." Usagi suddenly gasped as she glanced at the clock. "It's already 12:09!!" She quickly ran out the door hoping Rei wouldn't scold her. Usagi was in such a hurry that she didn't notice a dark figure watched her every move.

Usagi saw her friends from the distance and started to charge at them. While Rei was in a conversation with the other girls she felt a strong pull on her arm, which immediately made her fall down. She looked to see what pushed her to the ground and low and behold Usagi was in front of Rei rubbing her head. Usagi smiled as she replied "Oh..sorry Rei." "Usagi, Usagi. Watch where your going and your late!" Rei felt irritated.

"Come on you guys. Lets go." Minako said. Soon the girls all started to head for the café. From behind the corner of a building a shadow watched as the girls approached the café. Surprisingly Rei paused on the sidewalk and felt a dark aura around her.

"What's the matter Rei?" Makoto asked wondering why she stopped. Rei looked around her and the shadow faded out of her sight.

"Hmm… Its nothing, Let's go inside." Rei suggested as the girls walked into the café. They all sat at a table and started to order what they wanted to drink. While Minako was telling the waiter what she would like Rei suddenly felt a dark feeling again from before. She glanced behind her through the window and saw a shadowy figure across the street from the café. Rei starred hard trying to find out what it was she felt so unsafe about when the figure suddenly disappeared into the dark mist. Rei squinted her eyes wondering what it could have been not realizing that her name was being called.

"Rei? Rei? Rei!" Usagi tried to get her attention. "What?" Rei asked a little shaken up. Ami was starting to get concerned. "Rei are you alright?"

"You've been acting strange since we got here? Is something wrong?" Makoto was wondering why she was acting so weird. "No I'm fine you guys, don't worry. I guess I'm just a little tired that's all." Rei waved her hands in the air showing there was nothing to worry about.

Usagi starts giggling quietly making the other girls curious. "What's so amusing Usagi?" Minako asked with an eyebrow raised. "Oh nothing" replied Usagi with a sly grin on her face. "I just find it funny that Rei failed to mention why she is a little tired….especially after last night's episode."

Rei was breathing flames. "USAGI!! You weren't supposed to tell anyone!!" Usagi burst out laughing so pleased with herself while the other girls started pleading and yelling at her to spill the dirt on Rei's prior night.

"FINE!! I'll tell you!" Rei screamed and they all sat back down. Usagi was covering her mouth trying not to laugh. Rei gave her a death look and Usagi shrugged sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, Rei slowly explained, "I…..was….. sigh….with Yūichirō last night."

"OH!!" the girls all said in unison. " And from what I heard, it went pretty well" Usagi said with a smile so huge you could barely see her eyes. " Last time I tell you anything meatball brains." Rei said and took a huge bite of her ice cream. "Oh come on Rei- it's not like I don't tell you all of my juicy stories." They continued talking about boys and school and food, but Ami drew eerily quiet. All she could think about was Usagi….how could she? Ami had to know….right now.

Ami suddenly pulled Usagi aside and whispered in her ear with concern. "I just don't understand how this could happen…"

"Well Yūichirō and Rei have liked each other for a while….so it's not that surprising." Ami became frustrated and pulled Usagi away from the group with just enough force on Usagi's arm that she knew something was wrong. The girls kept on chatting away at the table. Once out of the girl's hearing range, Ami sternly asked, " I mean you and Seiya, Usagi. How could this happen? Did Mamoru mean nothing to you?! I just don't understand how you could have all of this history with him and then break it off like it meant nothing to you!"

Usagi's smile faded fast and even though she was trying not to be defensive, it was showing in her tone as she replied, "Ami- I didn't just "break" it off. We were already broken up, remember? And I don't appreciate you saying to me that Mamoru meant nothing, because all that tells me is that you don't know me at all. Mamoru was my world. I thought for sure we would end up together." Ami interrupted with "You were SUPPOSED to end up together. It was your destiny Usagi. I don't think you've thought this through at all. Instead you've just thrown the man of your dreams out the door for a new hot fling."

Now Usagi was mad- politeness was a past tense for her…no longer in her dictionary. " Jeez AMI!! You like him so much, YOU GO BE WITH HIM!! I am quite aware that all of the scouts are in shock as well as Mamoru for my decision to be with Seiya, but it's MY DECISION!! Not yours! Not Mamoru's! Not even Seiya's!! Mine Ami! That's what free agency is!" Just then, Usagi stopped screaming because she realized the entire café was staring at her, and everyone else had gone silent.

"I am with Urawa! Have been for two years now!" Ami says defensively. "WOOP DI DOO BUBBLE HEAD!!" Usagi screams throwing her hands in the air and walks out of the café. Ami looks at the other scouts and runs out after Usagi.

"Usagi! Don't walk away from me! I am talking to you!" Usagi flips around and yells "Well I'm done talking to you!" Ami screams, "It's just impure Usagi! I don't care how you defend yourself! I'm just trying to be a good friend and watch out for you!" Usagi scoffs and walks back to Ami.

Pointing her finger at Ami, Usagi states with clenched teeth, " Ami- I'm impure?! I'm IMPURE!! You're after everything male in sight! You may look all sweet, intelligent, and innocent, but you're after every guy that shows you the least bit of attention!" With that statement Ami gets a shocked look on her face and gasps. Usagi starts counting off men on her hand, "Urawa, Mamoru, Taiki! Probably Yūichirō and Yaten! Who's next Ami? My NEW HOT FLING??"

By this time the other scouts have arrived, and Rei covers Usagi's mouth as she continues to spurt things that can't be understood. "Usagi!! Usagi!! Ami!! Get a hold of yourselves! You two are going crazy! Someone's going to call the police soon reporting a domestic violence case!" Minako screams trying to break the two up.

Ami had tears running down her cheeks and said, "I can't believe you would say that Usagi! I can't believe you would say that to me!" Usagi removes Rei's hand from her mouth long enough to say, "believe it!" and Rei's hand resumes over her mouth. Ami storms off and Makoto follows her to make sure she's okay.

Rei finally takes her hand off of Usagi's mouth and spins her around and starts shaking her. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING USAGI!! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT?? YOU HAD THE ATTENTION OF THE ENTIRE CAFÉ!!" Usagi calms down and says, " Rei- I…I didn't know what to do….I was so mad. If it wasn't Ami, I would have killed her. She is always making me feel like this loopy can't make up her mind goes with the flow airhead, and I'm sick of it! I'm not in high school anymore! And this is stupid high school drama! I'm done! I'm done!"

Minako sits down and the other two follow. "So….how are we going to fix this?" she said pensively. Usagi starts crying and says, " I know that this isn't what everyone expected. Believe me; I didn't expect it to turn out this way either. But I've got to follow my heart. And I expect you guys to support me. Is that so wrong?" Rei and Minako hugged Usagi.

* * *

Makoto attempts to comfort Ami, but not doing so well. " I hate her! I don't ever want to speak with her again!" Ami spurted between sobs. " I'm sure she didn't mean it Ami" Makoto said with a frown. " She was just upset and probably unsure about the whole Seiya situation. So why don't you cut her a little slack?" Ami shot a death look Makoto's way and retorted, " Cut her slack? Isn't that what everyone does? Isn't that what everyone has always done? I'm so sick of her getting away with everything." Makoto looked at Ami with confusion.

"Ami what are you talking about? I have never seen you like this. You're making a huge deal out of something small." Ami stands up and starts walking away. Makoto jolts up and walks after her. " Ami- what is going on?!" " I don't need any advice from you Makoto!" Ami said and then spots the stars heading their way. Makoto spots them as well, and predicts the outcome from a mile away. Oh no, she thought.

Without hesitation, Ami marches right up to the stars, and starts yelling at Seiya, " This is all your fault! If you would have just stayed on your damn planet, our lives would be normal. But no! You had to come here and mess everything up! You screwed up Usagi's life, mine, and everyone else's!" Seiya had a shocked and blank look on his face. He was very unprepared for this random outburst.

"Ami, if I've done anything to offend you, I'm truly sorry…." Seiya said but Ami cut off his sentence with, " You've already offended me! Offended me to no end! The damage is done Seiya! I always thought, I'll just hold my tongue. I won't say anything. Well guess what?! I'm tired of people not knowing what I'm thinking! I don't like you…." Ami looks at Yaten and Taiki and adds, " Any of you!" All of the stars are blown away.

This is like an evil Ami….not the one they know. Taiki takes a step forward and says gently, "Ami, what did we do to make you so upset with us?" Ami snaps her head towards him with tears in her eyes and says, " Why don't you guys go back from where you came from." With that, silence poured over them all. Yaten looks at her and without hesitation remarks, " Bitch". Ami gasps again, and this time it's Taiki who's covering Yaten's mouth. Ami runs away and the stars look at Makoto for explanation. The look on her face lets them know she's just as lost as they are. Makoto waves and books after Ami. Taiki stops Makoto and offers to go after her. The shadow watched unnoticed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: **

"Rei- where is that blue shirt I let you borrow?" Usagi yelled tearing through her dresser drawers. "What?" Rei yelled from the bathroom as she was drying her hair with a towel. Usagi sighed and walked into the bathroom to find Rei in a long green towel with her beautiful black hair draped over her face.

"That's just creepy Rei. Where is my blue shirt? I let you borrow it last week." Usagi said and yawned. Rei flipped her hair back revealing her confused face and retorted, " Blue shirt? I don't know if I ever borrowed a blue shirt." Usagi grew impatient. "Rei- the shirt! The shirt you borrowed on your date to Jakusi's with Yūichirō, remember?" Rei walked out of the room with her eyebrows scrunched together, and Usagi could not only tell Rei did know what she was talking about, but also was trying to remember where she put it.

Usagi followed Rei into her room and Rei started looking everywhere. Under the bed, in the closet, and even in her dirty clothes hamper. Then a blank and stupefied look came over Rei's face. "What?" Usagi said with a disappointed face. Rei slowly turned to Usagi with a sheepish grin. " Um…..Usagi….I know where your shirt is." Usagi raised her eyebrows and said, " Good! So where is it?" Rei didn't answer. "What did you do Rei?" Rei turned her back and walked over to her dresser. She was definitely stalling.

Pulling out clothes for her to dress in, Rei slowly started with, "Remember when I told you I was spending the night at my grandpa's house last week?" Usagi replied, " Yes….what about it?" Rei paused and then said, " I….uh…..I'm a liar!!" Usagi frowned and said, " What?! What do you mean Rei?!" Rei frowned and then put her hand over her face, "I was with Yūichirō…and I left your shirt on his couch."

Usagi could not BELIEVE what she was hearing. "REI!! GROSSS!! YOU!! YOU BAD BUNNY!! DO I EVEN NEED TO ASK WHY MY SHIRT ENDED UP AT YUICHIRO'S??" Rei turned bright red and said, " I'll bring it back to you! I don't want to talk about it anymore!", and then walked out of the room. Usagi shook her head and went after her.

"Rei…..you got something you want to tell me?" Rei took a bottle of milk from the fridge and said without looking at Usagi, "Nope". Usagi said, "Fine- I'll just have to make assumptions of how MY blue shirt got there and was forgotten there!" Rei was not about to cave in. She shrugged and walked back into her bedroom shutting the door behind her.

Just then the doorbell rang. "OH shit!" Usagi thought realizing she'd been chasing Rei around for the past half hour when she should have been getting ready for her date. Only half dressed, Usagi runs to the door with the wet towel that Rei used covering her top. "Hi Seiya! Come on in!" Usagi said blushing as Seiya's surprised face said it all. "I didn't have enough time ok? Don't say anything. Just come in and give me 5 minutes."

Seiya smirked and blushed a little himself. " I wasn't going to say anything…except I'm perfectly fine if you want to just go like that." Usagi shot him a dirty look and chucked the towel at him. Then immediately realizing what she'd just done by the jaw dropping of Seiya, she screamed and ran into her room.

"Wow" Seiya said to himself really blushing now, and sat down looking at the towel. Just then Rei came out wearing nothing but a bra and panties and walked right past Seiya to put her bottle back in the fridge. Seiya was in a catatonic state. Somehow he managed to make a little sound, which made Rei realize she wasn't alone.

Slowly turning around she made eye contact with Seiya and screamed. Seiya threw his hands up and said, " Rei- I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't see…" Rei screamed again and fell behind the kitchen counter. " CLOSE YOUR EYES SEIYA!!" Seiya threw the towel over his head and Rei ran back into her room slamming the door for the second time.

Five minutes later Usagi comes out and Seiya has still got the towel over his head. She pulls it off and gives him a strange look. "Are you ok?" she said. Seiya gets this huge somewhat embarrassed smile on his face and says, "I'm…..I'm great. Let's go!" "Seiya! You're blushing! Are you still fretting over the towel thing? It's not that big of a deal. I'm already over it." Seiya shakes his head a little and then says, " I don't want to talk about it. Let's just go."

Low and behold Rei walks out, fully dressed, and gives Seiya a look of death. Seiya's face turns bright red, and Usagi looks at the two stare at each other. "What is going on you two?" she says. Rei just shook her hair and said calmly, "Seiya just needs to announce when he's in our apartment, because otherwise, embarrassing things could happen." "Noted! Let's go!" Seiya says heading for the door. Rei reinstates, "That should never….ever EVER happen. Right Seiya?" Seiya nods and runs through the door. Usagi shrugs at Rei and follows him. Rei shuts the door and locks it.

* * *

Taiki had lost sight of Ami, and so was searching diligently. He finally found her sitting alone on a park bench staring at the ground. " Ami! There you are." Ami looked up with stained tears on her face and looked away. Taiki sat down by Ami and put his arm around her. "Ame's, what's wrong?" Ami looked up at him and then said quietly, "I'm so ashamed. I feel like I had everything already planned out, and it had to be in a certain order. Now, I'm so off track, I don't even know how to get back on it. I'm so lost and alone. I can't talk to anyone, because it would just make me feel worse about myself. I'm so disappointed in me…I can't bear anyone else to be also. "

Taiki wiped a tear and said gently, " Ame's, you've always been able to talk to me. Tell me what's gotten you so upset? You're not acting like yourself." Ami hugged herself and said, " I know I'm not acting like myself. I don't even feel like me right now. I would never have gotten myself in this situation….so how did this happen?" Taiki grew more concerned and said, "WHAT AMI? What happened? You've got me worried now? Did someone do something to you? Did Seiya say something or do something? He never told me anything, but I haven't had the chance to talk to him since you took his head off. What is it Ami?"

Ami looked back down at the ground and said, " No….it's not Seiya. I don't want to tell you." Taiki thought for a moment and then said quietly, "Is it us? Is that why you're being this way? You feel guilty?" Ami laughed and said, "If only it was that Taiki. I already feel guilty about being with you when I'm in a relationship with Urawa. I already don't want people to know about us. I certainly don't want them to know about this."

Taiki was so confused. "About what Ami? I don't understand what you're talking about. If it's not us that is making you so upset, what is it? I'm tired of guessing." They were both silent for a moment and then Taiki added, " Ami, I don't regret us being together. I know it was not under the best of circumstances, but I've never felt this way about anyone. In fact….Ami….I….I love you." Ami bursts out bawling.

Taiki frowns and tries to comfort her. "I'm sorry Ami. Don't be sad. I've felt this way for a while. I just haven't had the courage to say anything. If you don't feel the same way back I completely understand, but…..Ami. I can't help it. I love you. I want you to be with me. I want you to leave Urawa and be with me. I promise to make you so happy." Ami stops sobbing and whips her head up towards Taiki. Taking a huge breath, Ami says matter of factly, "Taiki! I'm pregnant! I don't want to deal with THIS right now. I'm pregnant! And its yours!" and bursts out crying again.

Taiki froze. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Ami…..uh uh…" Taiki stammered trying to regain his vocabulary. " This is….so unexpected….I…..oh my gosh….I feel sick." Taiki said putting his head between his knees. Ami chuckles a little between tears and says, " Try having morning sickness for the past two weeks." Taiki lifted his head up and said, "Wow….I'm speechless…." Taiki stated and scratched his head.

Ami nodded and said, "Yup- well now you know how I feel." Taiki looked at her with a frown and said, " What are we going to do? I mean….is there a guide book on how to deal with something like this?" Ami smiled at the failed attempt of humor and said, " I wish there was Taiki. But sadly, no. This is something you and I have to figure out on our own." Taiki took in a huge breath still trying to grasp the fact that he was going to be a father.

" Ami- I'm here for you. Whatever you need. I know I'm acting kind of loopy but this news really blew me out of the water. I was just expecting to come after you and have you tell me that Seiya said something rude. This is a whole other matter. Hi Taiki- you're going to be a dad." Ami laughed and hugged Taiki.

"Why can you make the worst of situations feel like they're nothing more than everyday things? Like brushing your teeth?" Taiki smiled and kissed Ami's cheek. "It's not like someone died Ami. More just we have new decisions to make that we weren't planning on making. It's not the end of the world. I'm not going anywhere. And I've confessed my love for you within the past ten minutes, so that one's out of the way. It can only go up from here." Ami smiled bigger and said, " You are certainly good at looking at the bright side of things….because all I can see right now is I've been horrible to all of my friends, I've cheated on my boyfriend, and now I'm pregnant with my lover's child. I don't see how that is something to overlook like it happens everyday, but hey. At this point, I don't know what else to do. So sure- things I guess will get better. Either that, or someone will die to top off my week." Taiki and Ami laughed and hugged each other.

"Come on Ame's. We'll talk about this later. Let me cheer you up by taking you out to eat. You've had enough to worry about for one day." Ami smiled and said, "All of these disastrous events are making me a little famished." Taiki took her hand and kissed it, saying, " Well then let's get you something to eat my dear. It's the least I can do." Ami nodded and they walked out of the park arm in arm. The shadow kept a close eye on them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: **

Usagi waited impatiently at the dinner table for their food to arrive. She'd forgotten to eat with all of the drama going on, so she strummed her fingers on the table getting more and more agitated. "Will you calm down Usagi? The food is on it's way." Seiya said trying to distract her. "I know…but I'm so hungry!! I can tell it's making me cranky because I'm about ready to strangle someone if I don't get some food soon!" Seiya laughed and looked at his folded hands on the table.

Usagi noticed that he seemed deep in thought, and so to distract herself, she inquired, "What are you thinking about so seriously? You look so worried." Seiya looked up unaware that he'd caused attention to himself and replied, "Oh nothing…I wasn't thinking about…..well…." Usagi raised her eyebrows and said, "Yes? Spit it out Seiya." Seiya frowned a little and said, " Did you say something to Ami about me?" Usagi shook her head and replied, "No. Why?" Seiya looked back down and said, " I've just been chewing on some things she said to me this afternoon and I couldn't help but wonder if you had said something to her. You know…something that would set her off."

Usagi responded, "Um….no….I haven't talked to her about…..wait. Today we talked about you." Seiya looked at her curiously and said, "Well what did you talk about?" Usagi suddenly felt very uncomfortable. " Um….maybe we can talk about this later?" Usagi suggested hoping to get out of another possible argument. She knew that Seiya always got upset when Mamoru was brought up. Touchy subject. " No Usagi. I'd like to talk about it now, because I've got to know what made Ami so mad at me. So I don't care if you think it will make me upset. I want to hear about it now….not later."

"Seiya, I really don't want to…." Usagi said but was stopped by the serious look on Seiya's face. Damn, Usagi thought. Way to go Usagi….you just can't keep your mouth shut can you? " Um….well….the girls and I were at the café chatting away about whatever, as usual. Then Ami got this crazy idea to pull me away from the gang and inquire why….why I chose you over Mamoru." She already could tell Seiya was getting upset.

He didn't say anything but she knew his teeth were clenched because his jaw poked out a little when he did that. "It's nothing Seiya. She just is set on this destiny thing and thinks that I just threw Mamoru away like a scrap of used paper. That he didn't mean anything to me."

Seiya responded quietly almost as if he was talking to himself. " And did he mean nothing to you Usagi?", Seiya said. Usagi bit her lip. This was a trap question. If she said no, he would know she was lying, and if she said yes, it would just piss him off more. " Obviously he meant something to me Seiya. We'd been together for 3 years. But people change. I found I wanted to be with you. Not him. I don't care if anyone understands that or not. That's how I feel."

Instead of the relieved reaction that Usagi was expecting from Seiya, he said without much emotion, "Who wouldn't understand Usagi? Do your friends not approve of me?" Usagi didn't say anything because she wasn't sure how to respond….yah Seiya…some of them….but some of them are fine with it? No….no…that wouldn't go well. Seiya took her hesitation as a yes and stood up getting ready to leave. Usagi grabbed his hand and said, "Where are you going?! The food isn't even here yet!" Seiya looked at her with sad eyes and broke hold of their hands. Without saying a word, he walked out of the restaurant.

Just then the waiter brings the food and Usagi turns to him and says, "Damn you! Perfect timing there pal!" and runs out. The waiter was left behind with a confused face. Usagi ran around the corner to find Seiya walking with his hands in his pockets. "Seiya!! Seiya!!" Usagi yelled after him. Seiya stopped and just stared ahead.

Usagi ran in front of him and pantingly said, " Seiya…it doesn't matter whether my friends approve of you. I'm sure your brothers are still getting used to me, right? Well my friends are doing the same thing. It's not that they don't approve. They're just trying to adapt. It's all very new to everyone. But I choose you Seiya. And you choose me. And that's what matters. No one else."

Seiya bit his lip and said, " I just want what's best for you Usagi. How can I think that I'm what's best for you if your friends hate me?" Usagi replied, "They don't hate you Seiya." Seiya said," You should have heard Ami today. I'm sure if there was a mountain of hot lava nearby, she would have chucked me in it. She was not happy at me and that was very very apparent."

"Well I don't know what's gotten into Ami Seiya, but it's probably got nothing to do with you. She's mad at me. Not you." Seiya smiled a little and said, " Rei hates me too." Usagi looked confused and said, "Yah- what was that all about earlier?" Seiya grinned and said lightening the mood, " I accidentally saw her walk to the kitchen in her underwear." Usagi's eyes widened.

"What?!" Seiya covered his eyes and said, " It was so embarrassing for both of us. I felt like this peeping tom and she felt totally exposed and violated. It was great….hope it never happens again." Usagi giggled and then started laughing with Seiya because she could picture in her head the horror looks on Seiya's and Rei's face. " Well as long as you don't leave me for Rei now that you've seen…..um….more of her, I'm fine with it." Seiya took Usagi in his arms and said, " I only want you Odango." Usagi smiled and kissed Seiya.

Seiya's cell phone rang interrupting their kiss. "Sorry…" Seiya said to Usagi and checked who was calling. He ignored it and resumed kissing Usagi. Two seconds later, it rang again. This time it was Usagi that broke off the kissing. "Maybe you should answer it. But if someone's not in the emergency room then I'm going to be mad." Seiya kissed her forehead and grabbed his phone. It was Yaten calling again.

"This had better be important bro." Seiya said with a light tone in his voice. " Seiya, you need to get over her. Taiki's a mess. He just left Ami's house and…..well, you just need to get over here. Please don't make me handle this alone. I'm not cut out for this. PLEASE!!" Seiya looked at his watch and said, "Yaten, can't Taiki wait a couple hours? I'm out on a date right now."

Yaten stressed, " No….now Seiya. I will write Usagi an apology note or bring her a fruit basket but you need to get over here!" and then hung up the phone. Seiya put his phone away and turned to Usagi. Usagi smiled and said, "It's ok Seiya. I'm actually pretty tired. This has been a long day. So if your brother needs you, that's totally fine." Seiya looked at her concerned and said, " Are you sure? Cause I can just tell him to deal with it." Usagi nodded and yawned.

Seiya thought about it for a moment and then said, "Ok. Thank you Odango. I'll take you home and call you tomorrow." Usagi hugged Seiya and he closed his eyes feeling so lucky to have Usagi as a girlfriend. He dropped her off and made sure she got inside safely before he raced to his apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

When he got there, Yaten was waiting at the door with the phone still in his hand. The expression on Yaten's face was indescribable. It was as if Yaten had recently found out the boogeyman did exist and was under his bed.

"Ok Yaten- what is so damn important that you had to interrupt my night out?" Yaten interrupted with, " Ok ok….so Taiki came home from Ami's. I was sitting here reading my book. Minding my own business right? Wrong. Taiki comes up to me and just sits there staring at me. So naturally after a few seconds, I look up at him to see what he wants. And his face Seiya…it was frightening. So I asked what was wrong. And you know what he says? Ami's pregnant!" Seiya eyes widened and Yaten nodded.

"YAH! That's what I did! And there's more! So I'm thinking its Urawa's right? Wrong!! It's! It's! It's Taiki's!!" Seiya's jaw dropped for the second time today and said, "WHAT??" Yaten screamed at him " I didn't even know they were going out! You know Taiki never says much to me! So think how I feel when he says this!! I'm an Uncle Seiya!! I don't even want to be an Uncle! I didn't even get the chance to voice whether I wanted to be an Uncle!" Seiya was dumbfounded.

"So what did Taiki say? How did this happen?" Yaten shrugs and shakes his head. "I don't know! I told Taiki to hang on for two seconds and then I called you! I'm not dealing with this alone! This is too much!" Yaten said. "I'm an uncle Seiya! I'm an Uncle! Uncle Yaten!!" Seiya watched Yaten have a nervous breakdown on the front porch and then leaves him to go check on Taiki. As he's walking away, he hears Yaten in the background " Uncle Yaten, would you babysit for a while? Uncle Yaten, I want some candy. UNCLE YATEN, WOULD YOU TELL ME A BEDTIME STORY??"

Seiya found Taiki staring at the TV. He could tell he wasn't watching it though because Taiki never watched sports. And it was baseball. Seiya sat down next to Taiki and said, "So I just heard." Taiki responded without looking at Seiya. " Yah? Are you as freaked out as I am?" Seiya nodded and trying to stay calm said, " Taiki…would you mind telling me how this all happened? I mean I knew you and Ami were seeing each other. I already knew that. But um….the baby surprise was a little much." Taiki chucked a little and said, "You can say that again. I only found out a couple hours ago."

"Jeez" Seiya said watching the baseball game with Taiki. Yaten came in and sat down with his arms folded. He had a scowl on his face. Seiya picked up the TV remote and turned off the TV. "So talk to us Taiki. What happened?" Seiya asked. Taiki looked at him and said, " I honestly have no idea. Ami and I got really close…."

"Obviously" Yaten stated and Seiya glared at him. Yaten pouted. Taiki continued, " One or two nights there, it kind of got out of hand. And yah….next thing you know…you're a dad!"... "Or an uncle!" Yaten said. "Will you stop it Yaten?? This is not about you!" Seiya yelled. Yaten stood up and said, " Actually it is Seiya. Because Taiki went and….did stuff….and now I get to be an Uncle!" Pointing his angry finger at Taiki, Yaten stated, "You ask me first before you bring me into things that I may or may not want to be a part of! Dammit!" and stormed off.

Taiki looked at Seiya for an explanation. "Uncle Yaten is just having a hard day. Don't mind him. He's happy for you." Seiya said smiling. "What am I going to do Seiya" Taiki said. "Urawa doesn't know about us, or this..…baby. In fact, no one does. I'm the first person Ami's told. I'm scared."

Seiya ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Just do whatever you feel is best Taiki. Obviously support her, be there for her, and hopefully it will work out." "I've never been a father" Taiki said. Seiya laughed and replied, "That's actually a good thing Taiki. It would be weird if you had had that experience already." Taiki smiled at Seiya and Seiya patted Taiki's back. "I'm here for ya bro" Seiya said and Taiki nodded.

* * *

Usagi fell into bed and was about to turn off her lamp when she heard Rei's voice calling her. Usagi didn't move or respond. She was so tired that she prayed Rei's voice was just a symptom of her tiredness. "Usagi! Come here!" Rei yelled again. Moaning, Usagi rolled out of bed and stomped over to Rei's room. Why can't she ever come to me? I always have find wherever she is. Usagi opened Rei's door to find Rei sitting on her bed with her eyes closed. She was in meditation position and candles flickered all around her room.

"I'm pretty sure Seiya probably mentioned something about earlier today." Usagi smiled and said, "He might have said something." Rei's eyes remained closed, and Usagi could tell she was trying to stay calm. " I'm not upset….I just don't want this to get around. Can you imagine the reaction if Yūichirō were to find out? I don't even want to think about it." Rei said.

Usagi snickered and said, "So it's true then huh? You streaked in front of Seiya to grab some milk?" Rei's eyes flashed open and she stated strongly, "I did not streak! I was in my undergarments." Usagi laughed and said, "You can say it Rei, I was in my bra and panties." Rei shook her head and said, "Never! Just don't tell anyone ok? It's already embarrassing enough to both me and Seiya." Usagi replied, "I'm not a squealer." Rei eyed her with doubt but Usagi smiled and shut the door. Falling back into bed Usagi looked out her window and could swear someone was looking right back at her. But all she could see were shadows. Slowly she drifted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Usagi's beauty sleep was interrupted by a pillow hitting her face. "Get up Usagi! We're gonna be late for breakfast." Usagi groaned and chucked the pillow towards Rei's distant voice. She pulled her own pillow over her head and attempted to go back to sleep. Soon the pillow found her again hitting her in the back. "Come on Usagi! Everyone's going to be waiting!" Rei said. Usagi reluctantly and grumpily got up from her bed and slumped over to where Rei was.

Of course, Rei already looked like a runway model and was fixing her hair. Usagi gazed at the mirror to her own reflection and cringed. No one should see that. "What are we doing Rei?" she yawned. " We're having breakfast at Nillawas with the whole gang. And yes, before you ask, Ami will be there, so be nice." Usagi glared at Rei and said, "I hate being woken up early." Rei smiled and said, " Just think clouds in the sky and flowers in the garden. That always helps me." Usagi didn't respond and walked away. Usagi got dressed and the two headed over to meet the others. This should be interesting, Usagi thought.

When they arrived, Seiya, Taiki, Ami, and Minako were already at a table. "Where are the others?" Rei asked taking a seat next to Minako. "Yaten is coming…he just had a difficult time getting up this morning." Seiya said cheerfully and kissed Usagi as she sat down next to him. Taiki hit Seiya's shoulder and Seiya grinned at Taiki. Seiya thought back to earlier that morning when he called out "UNCLE YATEN!! GET UP!!" The response let's just say wasn't pleasant.

Ami avoided eye contact with Usagi and Usagi pretended not to notice. "Well let's order! I'm starving!" Usagi said eyeing Seiya. Seiya was supposed to pick up on the hint that she was hungry because she missed dinner last night, but no such luck. Seiya was way too busy trying to avoid eye contact with Rei. Just then Yaten and Makoto showed up. "Hey guys! Come have a seat!" Rei said with a smile. Yaten sat down with a huge frown on his face, while Makoto had a huge grin. Everyone looked at each other and someone had to break the ice.

"So what's going on everyone? No one has ever been this quiet", Taiki said. Makoto piped in, "I don't mind going first! Motoki and I are seeing each other! He dumped Reika! Hah! So finally we can be together. He's coming over to my house tonight and we're cooking an awesome meal. I'm so so excited, I want to pee my pants….." Everyone stares at each other and Makoto blushes but continues to smile. "That's great Makoto" Minako says.

"Who else would like to say what the tension at this table is?" Rei and Seiya looked at each other briefly and then looked back down. Usagi and Ami refused to look at each other. Yaten glared and Taiki and Ami. Minako stargazed at Yaten. The waiter came up and asked if they needed a few more minutes. "More a few more hours at this rate." Seiya said trying to ease the tension. " Oh you would like that, wouldn't you Seiya?" Rei said.

Seiya turned bright red and Rei turned bright red. Everyone looked at them. Seiya responded, "I'm sorry Rei!! I can't say it enough times! I'm really really sorry!" and then Seiya said to himself, "Man I'm sorry". Rei shook her head in disappointment and Makoto asked, "What is going on you two? What are you guys talking about? Why is Seiya apologizing? Why is everyone at this table wigged out? Did I miss something?" Usagi took a drink of water and said casually, "Seiya caught Rei streaking in our kitchen yesterday."

Rei's eyes turned to flames and she threw herself at Usagi screaming, "YOU SAY YOU'RE NOT A SQUEALER??" and lunged at Usagi's throat. As Usagi fought off Rei's strangling hands, everyone looked at Seiya who had basically disappeared under the table. Taiki tugged on what was left to grab of Seiya's shirt and said, "What happened Seiya?" Seiya sat back up and said, "It was an ACCIDENT!! I was just there to pick up Usagi! This is ridiculous!"

Rei had given up trying to kill Usagi and so they both sat back down. Rei glared at Usagi and Usagi rubbed her neck. "Ok- that's a good start. What else has been going on?" Makoto asked. Yaten continued to glare at Taiki. Taiki gave him the look of What did I do? Yaten just shook his head. Ami turned to look at Yaten and he did the same expression to her. "I guess it's my turn to go." Ami said quietly. Taiki eyed Ami with hesitation.

Ami stated softly, " I owe everyone an apology. I was having a really hard day yesterday, and I let out my anger on all of you. I said a lot of things I didn't mean and I really am sorry. I've just been dealing with a lot lately. But I think it'll get better, so again, please don't think I hate you guys. I love you all very much." Usagi smiled at Ami and Ami smiled back.

Taiki let out a big sigh and said, " Oh man….you scared me Ami…. I thought you gonna tell them about the baby" Everyone gasped including Ami as she whipped her head to Taiki in utter shock. Taiki looks around and says, "Uh oh. Ami….I….I said that out loud didn't I?" Taiki glances around and looks back at Ami's livid face and says, "Yup. I did. I'll just go kill myself now." Yaten smiles.

Makoto calls out to the waiter, "Waiter! I need a drink pronto!" Usagi says to Makoto, " You're not old enough to drink." Makoto replied, " I don't care what I'm drinking as long as I'm drinking. My mouth is dry from hanging open." Seiya said smoothly, " Well, that cat's out of the bag isn't it bro? I mean I thought my panties story would top all stories today, but you win!" Taiki turned burgundy red and Ami had her hands over her face.

"Well I'm gonna be an Uncle. That's my news." Yaten said and then took his drink from the waiter. Makoto looked around and said, "Dare I ask if there's any more news?" " I think that was it Makoto" Ami said through her hands. Usagi reached for Ami's hands and holding onto them said, "Oh Ami, why didn't you tell me?" Ami looked up and blushingly said, " How could I? I'm the one that's supposed to be perfect. I'm the one who's supposed to set the example. How could you be me and expect to tell everyone you're not what you seem? You're a failure?" Ami started crying. Minako ran over and hugged Ami.

"Oh sweetie! You're not a failure! We all make mistakes! No one said you have to be perfect!" Rei and Makoto looked at each other not sure what to say. Minako immediately forgave anyone and everyone, but they were frankly still in shock. Usagi thought a moment and then said quietly, " Can I ask who's baby it is?" Seiya cringed and Yaten grinned even bigger. Taiki covered his face with one hand and raised the other. Everyone raised eyebrows and looked at each other. Rei looked around and said, "Um….I can feel tension coming on and a lot of explaining to do, so we'd better move this outside." Everyone agreed and they exited the restaurant. Yaten grabbed his drink.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

When they got outside all hell broke loose. The girls were scolding Taiki for not being considerate of Ami's and Urawa's relationship, and Seiya was trying to calm Usagi down because she was yelling at Ami for keeping a secret from her. Rei was yelling at Yaten for being so heartless, and Minako was yelling at Rei for yelling at Yaten. Makoto was the only one not yelling. She was in fact very quiet. As she looked around she realized how empty outside was.

It seemed like inside the restaurant there were tons of people. But outside, it was like a ghost town. And even more strange, she could have sworn that she saw shadows. But only shadows. Shadows of people…but the people weren't there to cast the shadows. With a concerned face, Makoto kept poking Usagi saying "Hey…hey" quietly. Usagi finally annoyed of her poking stopped yelling at Ami long enough to hit Makoto's finger and said, "What Makoto?! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?!" Seeing the twisted look on Makoto's face, Usagi paused and Ami caught on too that there was something wrong.

"Hey guys!" Ami yelled at the rest of the yelling party. "HEY GUYS!!" she repeated, and soon the rest stopped and looked at her. She resumed looking at Makoto and the others mimicked her. Everyone was wondering what was with Makoto. "What Makoto?" Usagi said again. Makoto turned to her and said quietly, " Look….where is everyone?" Everyone started looking around and also realized how empty outside had become. " I don't see anybody…but I saw people's shadows." Minako slapped Makoto on the back and said, "Oh come on Makoto. You probably just couldn't see the person because they were out of your sight, but you glimpsed their shadow."

Rei's eyes were closed and she said, "No Makoto's right. Something is not normal here. We've all been so caught up in this drama that we didn't even notice." Usagi squeezed Seiya's arm and said shakily, " What is it Rei?" Rei shook her head and replied, "I don't know." They all sat there in silence looking at each other and then back to the empty town.

"That doesn't make sense. There were lots of people in the restaurant, but I doubt the whole town is in there.", Taiki said. Then the group heard a sound. It sounded like footsteps. But they couldn't tell where it was coming from. The sound kept growing louder and faster. Usagi felt like something was going to attack and she was already in defensive position. In fact, everyone was on edge ready for whatever was coming at them.

Taiki was standing in front of Ami, and Seiya in front of Usagi. Yaten was standing behind Minako. Suddenly Rei spotted something coming towards them, but couldn't quite tell what it was. And it was heading right for Seiya. "Seiya look out!" Rei shouted, but the running object jumped on Seiya before he could react. It wasn't a large thing, but rather small covered in a cloak. It resembled a little grim reaper or something to that nature. Seiya fell down with a thud and screamed in surprise. "GET OFF ME!!" he shouted and the others rushed to help him.

The little object clung to him and the others tried to pull it off. Minako grabbed the thing by the cloak and the cloak tugged and ripped off. Underneath revealed a little black haired girl hugging around Seiya's waist. Everyone jumped back and Seiya took a double look at what was attacking him. It was a little girl? "DADDY!!" she said with glee and hugged Seiya tight. Seiya gently but firmly pulled her off and got back up. Brushing himself off, he said catching his breath, "Uh, kid- I'm not your dad" She looked up at him with big shiny blue eyes and said, "Yes you are!" Seiya kind of chuckled and retorted, " I think you have me confused with someone else. Who are your parents?"

The little girl giggled and pointed to Seiya. Usagi looked at Seiya with a raised eyebrow and Seiya looked back at her. Looking at the little girl, he said, "What is your name kid?" The little girl ran and hugged him saying, "I'm Toshiko silly. And you're Seiya!" Seiya put his hands up unsure how to react and looked to Taiki for help. Taiki bent down to the little girl and said, "Why do you think Seiya is your dad? Maybe you're just a fan huh? You've seen us perform?" The confused look on Toshiko's face let Taiki know that was certainly not it.

Yaten stepped up and said, "Look you. Seiya's not your father. So run along ok?" Toshiko looked up to Yaten and smirked. "Yaten, he is my father. And you're my uncle!!" Seiya smiled and said, "I like this kid." Yaten clenched his teeth and stepped back. Everyone was dead silent. Taiki kind of pulled on Seiya's arm and kind of whispered in Seiya's ear, "Is there something I don't know about? Someone you were seeing and didn't say anything? Could this be your kid?"

"NO!!" Seiya said. "Look there is no way this is mine! I think I would know if I had a child! I mean she's what? 6 years old?!" "FOUR!" Toshiko chimed in happily. "Ok! So 4 years ago, where was I?" Seiya asked and bit his lip. Suddenly a look came over his face. "Uh oh" Seiya said. Taiki's face did the same thing. Yaten also got that look.

Taiki said slowly, " Seiya….wasn't that when you were….um…" "Don't say anything else today Taiki!! You're terrible at keeping important information to yourself!" Seiya said and then looked at Usagi. Usagi was fuming. "Who were you with SEIYA?? Is this your kid?!" she said with a raised voice. Seiya looked down at Toshiko who clung to his arm and said, "I swear, I don't….NO! This cannot be my kid!" Usagi got even more upset and stated, "OH PLEASE!! SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE YOU!!" With that, Usagi stormed off.

Seiya tried to go after her, but had a 4 year old cling a long that weighed him down. Seiya tried to pry her off him and finally got her little fingers detached long enough to say, "Taiki! Yaten! Could you take this for a minute! I've got to go after her!" He handed Toshiko to Taiki, who passed her to Yaten. Yaten sat there staring at this kid and holding her at arms length.

The girls stared at Taiki and Yaten, and they stared back as Seiya took off after Usagi. "So Taiki….how long have you known about this?" Ami said. Taiki threw his hands up and replied, "I don't know anything about a kid. All I know is if this is his kid, then I'm pretty sure I can guess who the mom is." Rei marched up to Taiki and accusingly said, " You've known that your brother was in a heavy relationship with some other gal, and you didn't have the decency to mention that Seiya might be carrying some baggage? How do you think Usagi feels??" Taiki was blown away.

"LOOK! It's not my job to keep everyone up to date on past relationships! Jeez!! You wanna get angry at someone, get angry at Seiya! I've got my own problems to deal with!" Makoto couldn't help herself- her curiosity always got the best of her. "What was her name?" Makoto asked. Taiki groaned and Yaten still in fear of the child he was holding said, " Her name was Kaori. Not that that is any of your business." Makoto scoffed and said, "I was just wondering."


	7. Chapter 7

****

Chapter Seven:

"Usagi!! Usagi wait up!!" Seiya yelled. Usagi was so mad that she kept walking even faster. Seiya ran to catch up to her and even then she kept walking. "Usagi stop! We need to talk about this ok? This can all be explained!" Seiya said pantingly. Usagi stopped and looked at him with the "If Looks Could Kill" look. "Please", Seiya said trying to catch his breath.

Usagi thought a moment and then said, "Fine Seiya…go ahead and explain." She shot a fake but really angry smile at Seiya and Seiya knew he'd better watch every word he said. "Can we at least sit down somewhere instead of standing in the middle of the sidewalk?" Usagi started heading for a park and sat down on a bench. Seiya sat down next to her and Usagi scooted away a little bit. "I'm listening.", she said with her arms folded.

Seiya closed his eyes and started with, " It was back when I was on my own planet….I was 14." Usagi looked at him with no expression and he continued. " I was just starting a rock band with my brothers, and girls really liked our songs. So naturally, the girls really liked us as well. That wasn't a problem because when you're 14, you like any attention. The downside was we got the reputation of going through girls like tissue paper. This wasn't true…in fact all of us were kind of shy. That's why we played in the band. It was our way of being social since we couldn't on our own."

Usagi's eyes softened even though she was trying to stay angry and not show any compassion. "To tell you the truth, I was terrified of girls. Of course no one would ever know that because I came off very confident and even cocky. I even came off more confident than either of my two brothers, and Yaten was jealous. He and I had several talks about why girls would flock to me and not notice him as much. Taiki didn't really care. But it got to Yaten. He even had a crush on this one girl that was so head over heels for me, and I kept trying to give her the hint that I wasn't interested. Well Yaten and I had some tough spots there where we wouldn't even talk because he was so mad. Kind of explains his grumpy personality doesn't it? He doesn't like that I come off as the personable one. But I can't help it- I come off as a flirt." Usagi interrupted him with, "Seiya, you're getting off subject." "Right right…I'm sorry.", Seiya said.

"OK- so there I was in this rock band with this bad rep, but having a blast playing with my brothers. At one of the shows, this girl caught my eye. Everyone else was screaming and clapping during every song, but she just stood there and looked at me. At first I thought it very odd and kind of creepy. Why is this girl just staring at me? Then after the show everyone came up for autographs and she waited. She had this hesitant look on her face the entire time- it was as if she was scared of us. But soon she was in line and when she got to me, she was blushing. She asked me to sign and gave me a little smile. I was immediately smitten. I tried to talk to her, flirt with her like I did all the other girls, but she just looked down and blushed. She had SHY written all over her. She smiled and said thank you, and started walking away. I couldn't just let her go. So I left the line of fans and ran after her. We talked for hours. It was like we just clicked. How are you doing so far?" Usagi said honestly, "I'm both intrigued and jealous as hell. Please continue."

"Ok- her name was Kaori. She became my world. The band almost broke up because of her. Instead of practicing for performances, I was spending all of my time with her. Both of my brothers were furious at me and didn't like her. It wasn't her in particular, but the way she captured all of my attention. I snuck out at night to be with her. I had become a ghost to my family. I was obsessed…an obsessed 14 year old. I dated her for about a year." Usagi was trying so hard not to get up and leave. It was so hard to hear about previous relationships knowing you're boyfriend has shared intimate moments with another girl. "Go on…" Usagi said straining her voice but attempting to act calm. Seiya paused and she could tell this is where it got sticky.

"We were um….practically spending everyday together, and even when we weren't together, we'd be thinking about each other. Oh God- this is so uncomfortable. Anyway, we got really physical and yah. That's the only girl I really got intimate with. Other girls have come and gone, but I never was into any of them." Usagi could barely take anymore. "So….what happened? Why aren't you still with her?", she asked. Seiya looked down at his feet and didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. She could sense the sadness.

"Well, even though we were very young, she wanted me to come and meet her parents. I did. It didn't go well." Usagi's eyebrows rose and she said, "Why didn't it go well?" Seiya was almost in tears. "Her dad thought I was a no good wild girl using punk who didn't deserve to even be friends with his daughter let alone dating her. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't even listen to a word I'd said. He'd previously made up his mind about me from what Kaori told him. He told me I wasn't to see his girl anymore, I wasn't welcome in his house, and I wasn't to talk to Kaori." A tear slid down Seiya's cheek and he quickly wiped it away.

Usagi forgot why she was angry. She felt so bad for Seiya. "So what happened after that?" Seiya sighed and said, "I was heartbroken…and she wouldn't speak to me after that. I was 15 around that time. I'd say hi to her in the halls at school and she would just avoid me. Even though I still had millions of fans and girls who wanted to be with me, it didn't make anything easier. All I felt was pain. Every time I saw her I thought….wow….I'm not good enough."

Usagi hugged Seiya completely forgetting her anger, jealousy, and any other emotions she was feeling at the time. "Oh Seiya, I'm so sorry." Seiya kind of shrugged her off and stood up. "So I left. My brothers and I left. And we ended up here. So there it is. The whole story for you.", he said with a hint of anger. Leave it to Usagi to say the wrong thing. Instead of fixing the situation and comforting him, she remembered her own feelings and said, "So? What? Was I a rebound or something then?"

Seiya clenched his teeth. He managed to get out, "I see I still have a lot to learn about you Usagi. I'm going home." Usagi immediately regretted her stupid ignorance and said, "Seiya! I'm sorry!" and started crying. Seiya said, "The kid can stay at my house till we figure this out. Goodnight Usagi." With that, Seiya left Usagi crying on the bench alone. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

Urawa was sitting at his desk studying for a final chemical engineering exam that he had already taken twice. He was frustrated because only 2 people in his class had passed the test so far. It was one of those exams that were supposed to be ridiculously hard so that the students would have to study the material over and over. Pretty much till they learned it by heart. He was upset that he had to take the exam yet a 3rd time.

On the upside, he had fellow students that were already on their 10th time and still not passing. Urawa took off his glasses and cleaned them with the bottom of his t-shirt when the doorbell rang. Urawa needed a break anyway, so he gladly left his study material and desk and went to see whom it was. When Urawa opened the door, there was Ami. Her expression was so unreadable, that Urawa couldn't decide whether this was a good visit or a bad visit.

"Hi Ami!" Urawa said and kissed her. Ami didn't really react but smiled a little. "Come in! I feel like I haven't seen you forever!" "Yes…it's been quite tough on you this semester hasn't it?" Ami replied walking in Urawa's front room and sitting down. Urawa sat down next to her and said, "The only tough part is not being able to spend a lot of time with you. How do you keep yourself occupied?"

Ami looked down and knew this was going to be a very difficult talk indeed. "Urawa…we need to talk." Urawa sighed and replied, "If this is about missing your parent's anniversary party, I'm really sorry Ami. I had the worst final the next morning, and I just didn't feel prepared enough." "No Urawa…that's not it." Ami said regretting even existing at this moment.

"What is it?" Urawa said with curiosity. Oh god, just let me die, Ami thought. Ami chuckled because she was trying to think how to break the news to him, and came up with "Hi Urawa…I can't see you anymore because I only have 6 weeks to live, so I'm traveling the world until I die. Have fun and I'll see you in heaven!" If only I could say that out loud, Ami thought. Sounds much more glamorous and less embarrassing.

"Urawa…I've done something….something I'm not proud of." Urawa drew a serious face and said, "Did you not study for one of your exams?" "Oh Urawa…I've been kind of seeing someone." Urawa shook his head very confused and said, "Seeing someone…what do you mean? Like a tutor? A therapist? " Ami closed her eyes and said, "No….seeing SOMEONE ELSE. Another man." Urawa was silent. Ami knew it finally sank in. "Ami…..why?" Urawa said sincerely. Oh Jeez…Ami thought.

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" she replied. "Well? What does this other guy have that I don't have?" "Urawa…it's not about what this other guy may or may not have. That's not the point! The point is I HAVE been seeing another man, and I plan to continue seeing this other man….so I think it best that we break up." Urawa was confused. "Well why can't we just get through this together? I mean it will take some time for me to forgive you, but I still want to be with you Ami. Whatever we need to work on to get our relationship back on track, we'll do it Ami."

Ami rolled her eyes and said, "Why are you making this so hard? Urawa- I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH YOU ANY MORE. I don't know how else to put it. We're done. I'm sorry if I've hurt you. I feel terrible and it's something I'm going to have to live with. But I can't make this any clearer. Do you understand?" "But Ami….I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Urawa declared. "That's very sweet of you Urawa, but I don't feel the same way. Not anymore."

Urawa became silent once more and Ami felt her job here was done. She stood up and started to walk towards the door. "Ami?", Urawa said. Ami turned around and replied, "What Urawa?" Urawa paused and then said, "Are you going with this other guy because of something I did?" Ami went and sat back down.

Taking Urawa's hand, Ami said, " No Urawa. It was just one of those things…one of those crazy unexpected things that happens sometimes. You are a great guy and a wonderful friend. I will always cherish the times we had together. It was not you Urawa. OK?" Urawa smiled and said, "Well…that makes me feel a little better." Ami smiled and said, "Good. Well I'm gonna go now." Urawa nodded and said, "For the record Ami, I still think you're a great gal." Ami smiled and said, "I wish I felt that way." Then she shut the door and Urawa went back to his studies.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

"Ok. I'll be right over" Taiki said and hung up the phone. Picking up Toshiko, he walked into the family room where Yaten was reading a magazine. "Hey Yaten. I have a big favor to ask of you. Seiya still hasn't come back yet and I've got to go meet Ami. She just broke it off with Urawa and I need to see how she's doing." Without looking at Taiki, Yaten said, "Go ahead Taiki…spit it out. You want me to watch the kid, is that it?"

Taiki put Toshiko down and said, "Well…yes. Is that all right? It would mean a lot to me. I think that Ami and I should be alone right now, and I haven't heard anything from Seiya or when he gets back. Please Yaten?" Yaten muttered in the magazine for a minute, and then replied, "Get out of here then." Taiki smiled big and said, "You're the best. Thank you." With that, Taiki pranced out the door leaving little Toshiko staring at Yaten. Yaten slowly removed his magazine enough to see the child staring at him.

"What?!", Yaten asked. Toshiko shrugged her little shoulders and said, "What shall we do?" Yaten got up and answered, "WE are not doing anything. YOU are sitting on this couch and not moving while I make a call." Yaten flipped through his notebook and reluctantly dialed the number that was quickly filling up all of his pages. "Hello?" a voice said. "Hi…..is Minako there?" Yaten said regrettingly. "This is her! Is this Yaten?!" Minako said. "Yah…look. I need some girl toys. Where do I find those?" Yaten said.

"Oh no worries! I'll run to some of the girl's houses and grab some. I'm sure I can round up some dolls and other girly things. Did you want me to bring them over?" "Yes." Yaten said. "Ok! Be there in 10 minutes!" Minako said and hung up. Yaten hung up and then started writing a note. Toshiko was spying on Yaten during the whole conversation, but when he started heading back towards the family room, she dashed back to the couch and pretended to not have moved. Yaten looked at her and then went to their front door. Opening it, he taped the note on the door and shut it. Then he came and sat down by Toshiko and picked back up his magazine. Toshiko looked at it with him.

Minako came up to the door and read the note: Minako. Thanks for your help. We went out for ice cream. Just leave the stuff on the doorstep. –Yaten. Minako was disappointed because she wanted to spend some time "babysitting" with Yaten. Leaving the toys on the doorstep, Minako got in her car and drove away. Yaten slowly put the magazine down and went to retrieve the sack of toys. He picked up Toshiko and set her on the floor a couple feet away from the couch. Then he grabbed the sack of toys and dumped it all on the floor by Toshiko. "Now play with these…don't make a lot of sound, and we'll get a long just fine." Yaten said. Toshiko giggled and nodded sifting through the different toys. Yaten sat down and turned on the TV.

* * *

Taiki ran up and hugged Ami. She was sitting on the steps in front of her house. They held each other for a while. Finally, Ami broke the ice with, "So do you want to hear the whole story?" Taiki nodded and held her hand. She went through the previous conversation with Urawa. Taiki listened without saying a word and then when Ami finished, said, "So how are you doing now? Do you feel you've made the right decision?" Ami nodded and said, "I do feel like I made the right choice. I just don't feel great right now. I can't tell whether it's the morning sickness or just the fact that I'm so overly stressed with everything." Taiki offered to cuddle Ami while they watched a movie on her couch, and she accepted. "Everything will be ok" Taiki assured her. Ami smiled and he kissed her on the forehead. Everything might be ok after all, Ami thought. Ten minutes into the movie, both were asleep on the couch in each other's arms.

* * *

Yaten looked up at the clock. It was 2 hours already, and still no sign of Taiki or Seiya. Why me? Yaten thought. He was sick of watching TV. He turned it off and laid back on the couch. Letting out a huge yawn, he closed his eyes and listened to Toshiko playing dolls on the floor. In her best guy voice, Toshiko said, "Hello…my name is Kana. What is your name?" Then she picked up the girl doll and said, "My name is Ishta. Do you think I'm pretty in my new dress?" Then she raised the hand of the boy doll and said, "Oh yes. You look really pretty. Would you like to go to dinner with me?" Toshiko made the girl doll's head nod and said, "I would love to…" Yaten couldn't help but scoff at that last remark.

He tried so hard to ignore the conversation but found himself looking behind the couch to see what Toshiko was doing. "So could I have a kiss before I go?" Toshiko said in her guy voice. Then she picked up the girl doll and said, "Yes. Make sure you pick me up at 8." Then she took the two dolls and smashed their faces together as if they were kissing. "NO, NO, NO!! ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Yaten jumped over the couch and sat down next to Toshiko.

Grabbing the girl doll from her, he shook the doll and said scoldingly, "Don't you know what it means to play hard to get? She wouldn't just give in like that. She doesn't even know this guy!! That's not how it works. Do you know what he's going to think of her?" Toshiko was shocked but delighted that she now had a playmate. "No. What?" Toshiko replied with a smile.

Yaten shook his head and pointed his finger at her. "He's going to think she's easy. Yah…he's going to think that he can get in her pants by the end of the night. Do you want your doll to be named Slut doll? I didn't think so. So let's try this again. I'll be the girl, and you be the guy. OK?" Toshiko shrugged her shoulders and picked up the guy doll. Yaten ran his fingers through his hair and cleared his voice. He was trying to imagine himself as a girl.

Toshiko walked her doll up to Yaten's doll and said in her guy voice, "Hi…my name is Kana." Yaten flipped the doll's hair and said in his best girl voice, "Yah? So?" Toshiko didn't know what to do. "So what's your name?" Yaten raised the dolls hand and said, "Boy, please. I don't have to stand here and talk to you when I could be with my girl friends shoppin." Toshiko giggled and said, "Well could I come to?"

Yaten flipped the dolls hair again, and replied, "I don't even know you." Toshiko smiled and said, "Well, I told you, I'm Kana." Yaten turned the doll around and said, "Yah, but you didn't even care to ask what my name was." Toshiko said, "Yes I did. I asked what is your name?" Yaten was in spite of himself starting to have fun. He said with more attitude, "Yes, but you asked me in that tone. I don't answer when guys talk to me in THAT tone."

Toshiko looked up at Yaten and said, "What tone Yaten?" Yaten said, "I don't know. They always say bullshit like that. We're just supposed to understand and apologize. So apologize to my doll." Toshiko shrugged and said with her doll, "I'm sorry." Yaten turned his doll to look back at Kana and said, "Well, since you're sorry. I guess I can forgive you. My name is Minako. And I just think I am so much better than everyone else." Toshiko said, "Do you have any friends named Ami or Usagi?"

Yaten made a shocked expression on his face and said, "Are you stalking me?!" Toshiko was starting to have fun as well. "No. I would never…" Yaten started having his doll stomp on Toshiko's doll and said, "I'm getting a restraining order!!" Toshiko laughed uncontrollably while Yaten stomped the doll on the other doll. "Now you mind your own business." Toshiko picked up the doll and said, "I think you gave me a black eye."

Yaten flipped the doll's hair and said, "Well, men like you deserve a black eye…going around stalking girls." Toshiko's doll replied, "Please. What can I do to make it up to you?" Yaten made the doll stand there like she was thinking for a couple minutes and then finally said raising her little hand, "I guess you could buy me dinner. You are awful cute…for a stalker." Toshiko giggled and said, "So what time should I pick you up?" Yaten said, "You're not picking me up! I'll meet you there. Until I can trust you, what would make you think I would tell you where I live?"

"Ok- well let's meet at the restaurant at 8 o'clock." Yaten said rather lightly, "Better make it 9. I've got to recurl my hair. And lord knows I need to paint my nails a different color." "Ok" Toshiko said. "I'll plan on meeting you at 9." "Fine", Yaten said and had the doll exit the scene.

* * *

_A/N: Just to let you know this is my favorite chapter and it was really fun to write :)_


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